Mr. Okra is still the freshest thing going at fest | The New Orleans Advocate

One of the most recognizable voices in New Orleans is not a singer, not a rapper, and not a trumpeter.

It’s a man selling fresh produce from a truck.

Advocate file photo by SCOTT GOLD -- Mr. Okra, Arthur Robinson

At the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell Sunday, Arthur Robinson, otherwise known as Mr. Okra, is indeed where he is best known: The driver’s seat of his Ford F-150 pickup truck. With a CB radio microphone in one hand, Robinson recites a litany of his offerings to fest-goers as they stream past: Bananas, strawberries, cucumbers, oranges, pineapples, and, of course, okra.

He has been selling at the festival for four years and for 31 years has been selling in the streets of New Orleans every day of the week.

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